CHICO — Police are looking for a suspect who robbed the owner of a vacuum cleaner and air filtration company on Zanella Way Monday morning of his wallet and expensive watch at gunpoint, then struck him over the head with the firearm before fleeing.

Police flooded a light industrial area bordered by Notre Dame Boulevard, the Skyway, Morrow Lane and Zanella Way minutes after the robbery was reported about 11:30 a.m.

The search for the suspect also included Butte County sheriff”s deputies and a sheriff”s helicopter.

When the man wasn”t located after about an hour, police shut the manhunt down. It resumed later Monday when a woman at a business in the area thought the suspect might have knocked on her door.

Police quickly abandoned the second search and said they believed the man who robbed a victim at Nor-Cal Air, in the 2500 block of Zanella, had fled the area.

The victim was not identified by police Monday. He suffered a cut to his forehead but declined medical transport.

Investigators said the man came into the business about 11:30 a.m. to inquire about a help-wanted sign in the window.

The owner said there was an opening and stepped into a back room to get an application.

When he returned, the suspect placed a black, semiautomatic handgun to the man”s head, then demanded his wallet and watch.

No vehicle was seen in connection with the gunman”s escape, but police are investigating information that a man was seen in the area getting out of a small white car, which was then driven away by a second man.

Police were puzzled by the suspect”s choice of a business to rob. “It”s definitely an unusual location,” said Sgt. Rob Merrifield.

Police said administrators at Chico Christian School on Notre Dame Boulevard were notified that a robbery suspect with a gun was unaccounted for in the area, but officers were watching the campus and the school reportedly didn”t go into lockdown.

The suspect ran from the business in an unknown direction. He was described as a white man, about 5-foot-8, around 180 pounds. He was wearing dark jeans and a gray shirt, and had gray stubble on his face.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspect is asked to call Chico police at 897-4900.